Finished: Red is for Rage Beret

After losing two hand knitted hats to Glasgow's bus system, I decided it was time to knit myself a new one. I bought some bright red aran wool (Rico Essentials Soft Merino Aran) at the wool shop in Bangor when I was last home in Northern Ireland, hoping for something that would knit up quickly to satisfy my hat urge.

Picking a pattern was hard as the wool is so bright it really needs a complex looking pattern or else I feared it would look a bit cheap. Looking at patterns made with worsted/aran weight wools on Ravelry I saw the Snapdragon Tam:

Ysolda's Snapdragon Tam from Ravelry

I liked that it didn't look too loose or tight to the head and thought the pattern was pretty. Following some kind of rush of blood to the head I forked out £9 for the ebook of Whimsical Little Knits 2 on Ravelry instead of buying just the one pattern. Only to find out that the yarn required was DK weight. Grrr. Pre-purchase, I did see that the yarn used was DK but assumed it must have been held double. It wasn't, but it was a 'light worsted' yarn which was why it was in the worsted category. Not to be outdone I decided to knit it anyway, as it comes in 3 sizes I thought I'd make the smallest size and hope for the best.
  

So how was it to knit? Trying. Nearly every single row was different, requiring continual checking of the pattern. I do like cable patterns but it's so much easier when you have a nice regular repeat. It certainly is a very clever pattern but it took quite a while for me to get into the swing of it.

Once completed it seemed a good size, with the ribbing nice and snug, just the wrong shape for a beret. However during blocking it seemed to stretch to gargantuan proportions, sending me into a rage as I was convinced it would not return to it's nice pre-blocking snugness. I've knit projects with lovely soft wool before which have just grown and stretched - so frustrating.

Do you ever get a real rage over your projects when they're not going as you want? I was FURIOUS about how I thought this hat was going to turn out and was getting ready to rip the whole thing out once it was dry. I spent a whole Sunday afternoon saying "I'm really angry about that hat", and similar, getting angry about it over and over again. Is that a tragic admission? Perhaps my increased hormones were playing a part.

But you know what? Somehow once dry it miraculously snapped back into the right size. In the end, I'm really chuffed with it and all the frustration and rage are nearly forgotten. I'm still aware that it might stretch with wear but I'm really hoping not.

I've never knit an Ysolda pattern before. I usually find her garment designs a little whimsical for my tastes (though I love her Elijah elephant) but I know she has a huge following amongst knitters. Have you ever knit any of her patterns?

K x

 (Bonus picture - I found it so difficult taking pictures of the side and back of my own head. Most turned out like this....)